Former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu has been discharged and acquitted of the $9.8 million money laundering charge filed against him by the Federal Government.
Recall that residence of the ex-NNPC boss in Kaduna was raided by operatives of the anti-graft body in 2017, and 9, 772, 800 dollars and 74, 000 pounds were discovered in a waterproof safe.
Subsequently, the Federal High Court in Kano, on February 13, 2017, granted interim order forfeiting the recovered monies to the federal government. The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna equally upheld the forfeiture order in 2018.
But delivering judgement on Thursday, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja said the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), prosecuting Andrew Yakubu on behalf of the Federal Government could not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Mohammed agreed with Yakubu that the hard currencies found at his Kaduna residence were gifts and donations from friends and well-wishers after he retired as NNPC GMD.
The court held that the money was not collected in bulk but in tranches, adding that part of the amount was from his savings from his official foreign trips while he was in office.
Justice Mohammed also ordered that the huge foreign currency seized from him in 2017 and kept at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) be refunded to him forthwith.
